This invention relates generally to network document processing and, more particularly, to a system for copying properties/settings of one document processing device (e.g. a first network printer) to another document processing device (e.g. a second network printer).
Currently a substantial number of document processing devices (e.g. printers, scanners, routers, communicate with one another by way of a network. In one example, a workstation (commonly referred to as a "client") includes one or more applications which each create an electronic document in graphic device interface (gdi) format, which gdi format is then converted into a page description language (pdl) format for transmission to a printer for processing (including, for example, rasterizing). In creating the electronic document, the client is constrained by selected properties or settings to which the printer is subject. For example, one printer may include a host of image processing related properties which may not be available at another printer.
As disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,674 to Morgan et al. (Issued: Jun. 15, 1993), a client, in a typical network environment, may have access to multiple printers by way of a server. More particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,674 discloses a local area print server which functions in cooperation with a plurality of clients and a plurality of printers to facilitate communication between the clients and the printers. As shown, the local area print server both controls the servicing of printer requests by a printer and, in response to printer requests for resources needed to satisfy a printing request, either provides required resources, or obtains the resources from remote subsystems.
As suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,109 to Snyder (Issued: Oct. 8, 1996), one printing device within the multiple printer arrangement of U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,674 can possess a set of printing parameters which varies from that of another printing device within the same arrangement. This variation among printing parameter sets can, as taught by '109 Patent, be advantageous to a user in that the user is provided with the capability to choose a printing device based on the particular needs of a user's document or job. More particularly, a directory of available peripheral devices, together with a disclosure of the current configuration of setup parameters of each device, is provided to a client so that the client can select the peripheral device best suited for a particular job. The directory may provide a ranking of the peripheral devices according to fit with the selected setup parameters and a predetermined ordering of the importance of each parameter. The directory may be limited to only those document production apparatuses which are capable of being configured in accordance with the operator's selection of setup parameters; or the directory may include all document production apparatuses on the network, letting the operator modify the parameter selection to fit the available configurations if necessary.
When using a multiple printer arrangement in which multiple parameter sets are provided, it is desirable to provide a significant level of network management for the devices. One important aspect of network management includes configuring the parameters of a device, e.g. printer, pursuant to adding the device to the network. As is known, such configuration or setup can be performed manually on site or semi-automatically from a remote administration client. In one example of manual setup, an administrator prints out a configuration sheet from a configured device and uses that as a reference to initialize the parameters for a newly installed device.
While the manual approach is suited for those situations where the administrator is disposed in close proximity to the newly installed device, it can be undesirable when the newly installed device and the administrator are not in close proximity. As is known, devices can be separated from one another by many miles (kilometers) in even a relatively small local area network (LAN). In those situations where an administrator is required to manage a LAN or wide area network, it is desirable to employ some sort of administrative utility or application. Xerox Corporation provides an administrative utility for its 4220/4230 printer group which permits printer control panel functions to be manipulated from a remote administrative client. The utility runs under DOS on an IBM-compatible computer and provides a user-friendly graphic interface for communicating with the printer. Using the utility, a client can remotely query the status of the printer, print reports, configure default printer parameters, and manage fonts and forms stored on the printer.
Another limitation of the manual approach is that the features of the Control Panel are often severely limited by the need to reduce cost. This typically makes it difficult to enter numbers and extremely difficult to enter alphanumeric strings. The remote administrative clients do not suffer from the Control Panel limitations.
Network management can, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,829 to Freedman (Issued: Jun. 13, 1989), be carried even beyond the interaction described above for the Xerox administrator utility. More particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,829 is directed toward an administration system employing a computer network which is programmed in such a manner that a printing requester or user can interface, through the computer network, with a printing facility for the printing or publishing of a work or job. More specifically, the system interacts with a user for collecting and storing information or parameters regarding the user's needs (i.e., cost requirements, photos, pictures, graphics, deadlines, number of documents to be printed, colors used, kinds of paper, typeface to be used, etc.). The system then compares the information from the user with stored information relating to the printed work design and capabilities of various printing facilities (i.e., types of printing equipment available, for example, offset presses, paper cutters and/or binding equipment, operating costs, time, process requirements, etc.).
The system also evaluates which printing facility and/or particular type of printing equipment is most compatible with the user's specific printing needs. The evaluation is presented typically over a conventional telephone network or through a direct local network to the user to permit the user to select and execute a particular course of action based on the various available options. In addition, the system is designed to handle all of the administrative details (orders, billing, etc.) involved with such a printing job. Furthermore, the system's interactive nature is well suited for monitoring and modifying a previously selected printing job order while the printing job is in progress.
Network communication promises to be advanced through use of the "Internet" or "World Wide Web" (www). On the increasingly popular www, hypertext markup language (html) specifies the display of information on a "client" computer, and hypertext transfer protocol (http) provides a neutral mechanism for the transfer of information from a "server" computer to a "client" computer over the TCP/IP network protocol. Of particular interest is the neutral aspect, in which the transfer and display of information does not depend on the client computers operating system or processor configuration, but only on the capabilities of a protocol-compliant "browser". Such software is widely available for most computers at this time. Information transferred and displayed to the client includes both static information defined in advance and dynamic information computed at the time that a client makes a request to the server. Publicly available server software often includes the common gateway interface (CGI) which allows the server to invoke a software program which may be passed using specified parameters, and whose output will be transferred to, and displayed on the client computer.
Print and document processing machines can use html and http as interfaces for control and status, and design of these machines benefits greatly from use of such interfaces for several reasons. First, development costs are lower and deployment schedules shorter since the mechanism can be used by many clients without the necessity of writing the client display software (often referred to as "user interface" or UI) for each operating system and processor that clients use. Second, it is straightforward to define multi-lingual interfaces by storing the information in multiple languages on the server, permitting the server to be accessed in multiple languages by different clients concurrently. Third, upgrades or changes can be made to the print or document processing machine's capabilities without the inconvenience of the vendor developing new client display software and of the client having to install new software on every client computer for each such upgrade.
While Xerox' administration utility and the system of U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,829 are well suited for gathering information on a network and/or configuring parameters of a selected printer, they do not necessarily provide device configuration capability to the widest range of network users possible. More particularly, it is believed that a client who does not run some sort of administration utility or is not part of a communication system (such as that disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,829) is not in a position to configure printers on the network. While the www has been used extensively to gather information, by way of browsing, its full capabilities have not been exploited fully. It would be desirable to provide a system that employs browsing capability for making network device configuration capability available to as many network users as possible.
The present invention employs network capability to achieve various advantageous ends. The following discussion is intended to provide a background for any appropriate network implementation required by the disclosed embodiment below:
Examples of some recent patents relating to network environments of plural remote terminal shared users of networked printers include the following patents assigned to Xerox Corporation: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,243,518; 5,226,112; 5,170,340; and 5,287,194. Some patents on this subject assigned to others include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,113,355; 5,113,494 (originally filed Feb. 27, 1987); U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,181,162; 5,220,674; 5,247,670; 4,953,080; and 4,821,107. Further by way of background, some of the following U.S. patents assigned to Xerox Corporation also include examples of networked systems with printers: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,153,577; 5,113,517; 5,072,412; 5,065,347; 5,008,853; 4,947,345; 4,939,507; 4,937,036; 4,920,481; 4,914,586; 4,899,136; 4,453,128; 4,063,220; 4,099,024; 3,958,088; 3,920,895; and 3,597,071. Also noted are IBM Corp. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,651,278 and 4,623,244, and Canon U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,458 and Japan. Pub. No. 59-63872 published Nov. 4, 1984. Some of these various above patents also disclose multi-functional or integral machines [digital scanner/facsimile/printer/copiers] and their controls.
Some other network system related publications include "Xerox Office Systems Technology" " . . . Xerox 8000 Series Products: Workstations, Services, Ethernet, and Software Development" .COPYRGT.1982, 1984 by Xerox Corporation, OSD-R8203A, Ed. T. Linden and E. Harslem, with a "Table of Contents" citing its numerous prior publications sources, and an Abstract noting the April 1981 announcement of "the 8110 Star Information System, A New Personal Computer . . . "; "Xerox System Integration Standard Printing Protocol XSIS 118404", April 1984; "Xerox Integrated Production Publishers Solutions: . . . " Booklet No. "610P50807" "11/85"; "Printing Protocol-Xerox System Integration Standard" .COPYRGT.1990 by Xerox Corporation, XNSS 119005 May 1990; "Xerox Network Systems Architecture", "General Information Manual", XNSG 068504 April 1985, with an extensive annotated bibliography, .COPYRGT.1985 by Xerox Corporation; "Interpress: The Source Book", Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1988, by Harrington, S. J. and Buckley, R. R.; Adobe Systems Incorporated "PostScript.RTM. Language Reference Manual", Addison-Wesley Co., 1990; "Mastering Novell.RTM. Netware.RTM.", 1990, SYBEX, Inc., Alameda, Calif., by Cheryl E. Currid and Craig A. Gillett; "Palladium Print System" .COPYRGT.MIT 1984, et sec; "Athena85" "Computing in Higher Education: The Athena Experience", E. Balkovich, et al, Communications of the ACM, 28(11) pp. 1214-1224, November, 1985; and "Apollo87" "The Network Computing Architecture and System: An Environment for Developing Distributed Applications", T. H. Dineen, et al, Usenix Conference Proceedings, June 1987.
Noted regarding commercial network systems with printers and software therefor is the 1992 Xerox.RTM. Corporation "Network Publisher" version of the 1990 "DocuTech.RTM." publishing system, including the "Network Server" to customer's Novell.RTM. 3.11 networks, supporting various different network protocols and "Ethernet"; and the Interpress Electronic Printing Standard, Version 3.0, Xerox System Integration Standard XNSS 048601 (January 1986). Also, the much earlier Xerox.RTM. Corporation "9700 Electronic printing System"; the "VP Local Laser Printing" software application package, which, together with the Xerox.RTM. "4045" or other Laser Copier/Printer, the "6085" "Professional Computer System" using Xerox Corporation "ViewPoint" or "GlobalView.RTM." software and a "local printer [print service] Option" kit, comprises the "Documenter" system. The even earlier Xerox.RTM. Corporation "8000" "Xerox Network Services Product Descriptions" further describe other earlier Xerox.RTM. Corporation electronic document printing systems. Eastman Kodak "LionHeart.RTM." systems, first announced Sep. 13, 1990, are also noted.
Current popular commercial published "systems software" including LAN workstation connections includes Novell.RTM. DOS 7.0, "Windows.RTM." NT 3.1, and IBM OS/2 Version 2.1.
Disclosures of all of the patents cited and/or discussed above in this Background are incorporated herein by reference.